Don’t Ever Look a Gift Game Show in Mouth

Cable television channel GSN, formerly known as the Game Show Network, is scheduled to televise the finale of “American Dream Derby” on Monday at 4 p.m. from Santa Anita.

In this reality horse racing show, the first of its kind, a field of 12 contestants, after undergoing a crash course in horse training and handicapping, has been pared down to eight. Now someone is set to take home the grand prize of $250,000 and a stable of eight thoroughbreds.

“ ‘Dream Derby’ has a lot of bells and buzzers,” GSN President Rich Cronin said. “It’s a lot harder doing this huge event than producing game shows. We’re dealing with very high-strung animals. They kick, they bite, and they’re difficult to clean up after. But enough about the contestants.”

Trivia time: How many goals did Wayne Gretzky score for the Edmonton Oilers in 1983-84, counting the playoffs?

Colorful coach: Stacy Johnson-Klein, the women’s basketball coach at Fresno State, is on paid leave while school administrators investigate allegations of improper behavior.

One problem, it seems, is Johnson-Klein’s game-day attire. John Branch of the Fresno Bee, who calls Johnson-Klein the most interesting sports figure in Fresno, describes her wardrobe as “fearless” and describes the coach as “more colorful than a book of paint samples.”

Adds Branch: “Her language can be bluer than her eye shadow.”

Survey says: Of the more than 600 people interviewed for an ESPN survey, 53% said they believed Barry Bonds knowingly took steroids, 23% said he didn’t and 21% said they didn’t know.

Asked whether Bonds belonged in the Hall of Fame, 52.3% said yes, 29.3% said no and 18.4% said they didn’t know.

Spreading the blame: U.S. sprinter Kelli White, who was stripped of the two gold medals she won at the 2003 world track and field championships after admitting she used performance-enhancing drugs, says she believes she deserves those medals. Her reasoning?

“It’s not just me out there doing that,” White tells James Brown on the latest edition of HBO’s of “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel,” which begins airing Tuesday night.

Looking back: On this day in 1971, Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins, in a 5-4 loss to the Kings, became the first NHL player to score 50 goals before March. Esposito finished the regular season with a then-record 76 goals.

Trivia answer: 100. He scored 87 goals in 74 regular-season games and 13 in 19 playoff games as Edmonton won its first Stanley Cup. Gretzky set the regular-season record of 92 goals in 1981-82.

And finally: Third-generation driver Kyle Petty on changes in NASCAR: “We’re still doing what we’ve always done -- going around in circles very fast. The difference is that when you go into a grocery store, there might be a race car on the Cheerios box and some drivers’ pictures on a six-pack of Coke.”

*

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.